The Marauders
by Sirius.Potterhead.2005
Summary: Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's story!
1. Diagon Alley

James Potter held his fathers hand as he prepared to apparate for the first time. He was going to Diagon Alley as every 11 year old witch and wizard did. All his life he had envied his mother and father's ability to use a wand and now he would be able to do the same!

"Ready?" asked James' dad. "It'll be a little strange since its your first time but when we get to Diagon Alley I will get you some ice cream!" James' face lit up with even more exitement at the promise of ice cream.

"I'm ready!" The moment the words left James' lips, him and his dad were swirling through the air. It felt as though he were bending all laws of time and space. It made him feel empowered.

After what must have been a few seconds, James and his dad were just down the alleyway next to the leaky cauldron- where James had been a few times for a sneaky butterbeer with his grandparents when it was their turn to babysit.

"Sure you don't want to go to muggle school?" James didn't respond with words, just an annoyed glare, "I'm joking! The only thing you've been talking about since we told you about school was going to Hogwarts!" When there were no muggles around, James slipped into the dull building and was immediately hit by the scent of butterbeer and fire whiskey! He breathed it all in; this was what the wizarding world smelled like!

With a tip of his hat to every other person he passed, James' father glided past the many tables chairs and barstools beconing for James to follow after him. So much excitement had built up in James that he felt as he would explode! He jumped through the bar to meet his dad waiting by the backdoor that would lead out to the enchanted brick wall that would lead out to the infamous Diagon Alley!

"I present to you..." James' father remarked, "the most magical street ever known to witches and wizards!" James was shocked at how amazing this place was! How did anyone live their life without this? He felt a tiny twang of guilt for all his muggle friends from his old primary school but it soon went away as he looked to his right and saw Gringotts bank and then saw a whole street of colourful little shops selling something new in every window- a bit like small tourist shops you might see on your summer holidays!

"First stop is Ollivanders!"

The two wizards entered the wand shop that had been running since 382BC. The little shop was jam packed with wands some neatly stacked on shelves and others barely balenced ontop of each other. At first it seemed like no one was there but then a old yet healthy looking man emerged from the stacks of wands.

"Mr Potter! I see this is your son you have spoken so fondly about on our occasional meet ups for the odd butterbeer." James felt his face flush pink as he was complimented by the eccentric wand maker. "I can see why someone would be proud to have a child like you. Why, I can practically see the potential radiating off you!" James' face went from a pink tinge to a burning red hue in a matter of seconds! Why did he have to be so embarrassed?

"Thank you Mr Ollivander," whispered James. "It's nice to see you too."

"A little shy are we? Hogwarts will soon change that! Now for your wand!" Ollivander walked over to the neatly stacked shelves and glanced over the names of them. He looked back at the messy haired boy and shook his head, murmering somethig along the lines of:

"Much too care free for these!" Then he ran over to the boxes that looked as if they were to fall like a giant jenga game and skimmed his eyes past the various sizes, cores and woods before finally pulling out a blue-gray box from the very middle.

"This one perhaps?" The 10 1/4" wand was passed down the the 11 year old boy and his father made a little wrist movement, indicating that he should try and conjour some sort of spell. With a flick of his wrist, he smashed an antique vase. Frozen in fear, he gripped the wand tighter with the tip still pointed at the smashed glass.

"Maybe the Willow wand isn't for you Mr Potter." As James was about to hand the Willow wand back, a small burst of light came from it and the vase rebuilt itself and the flowers inside of it picked themselves off the floor and returned to the glass antique.

"Peculiar!" Ollivander stared at James with slightly narrowed eyes before whipping his head back to the huge pile of wand boxes. "Then again, when does a Potter wand selection session ever go normally? I think this one should do it! 11" Mahogany, Pliable!" The slightly shakey handed man gave James his second wand of the day and James held it with nothing happening. Suddenly, the whole room lit up as every broken light bulb fixed and all the fallen wand boxes slotted into it's rightful place.

"Yes!" shouted Mr Ollivander "It's perfect! Mr Potter this is your wand! I wish you the best of luck at Hogwarts young man." James took the box from Ollivander and tucked the wand inside it as him and his father left the shop.

"I belive I promised you some ice cream!" said James' dad as they reached a lilac building with sweet aromas coming out of it. "This is the best place I have found to this day! So how about a little treat for finding the perfect wand?"

Ice cream in hand, James made his way over to the robe shop alone while his father went to sort out something 'top secret'. Which, after knowing his father for 11 years, James knew that this meant he would get a surprise from his dad as a welcome the Hogwarts gift. The small boy stepped into the robe shop and couldn't see anyone and when no one emerged from anywhere, he went to look around the shop. On the far right, he saw first year robes that would change colour after the witch or wizard was sorted so he went over to try some on. After about 30 seconds of browsing, James heared giggling behind him so turned around to meet a small, red-haired girl laughing at him.

"What is it? Why are you lauging at me?" James asked the girl stood infront of him.

"You do realise your looking in the girls section right?" James flushed pink again before replying:

"And what if I'm shopping for my little sister?" Confident with his answer, James stood a little taller and his face returned to a normal colour.

"Well since you look around my age and your carrying a wand box that has 'Mr Potter' freshly engraved on it I would say that thats unlikely!" The green-eyed girl then proceeded to skip off out of the shop to meet with a tall brown haired lady with a huge smile on her face. Before anyone else saw him, he went over to the boys robes picked a few sizes out and went to try them on.

When he came out if the changing area with the smallest size, since he was a pretty scrawny boy, he payed and went to meet his dad on the arranged place. When he arrived outside flourish and blotts, he saw his father with a small stack of books and a bird cage with a medium sized tawny owl in it. James beamed at his father as he rushed over to him.

"What are you going to call him?" asked his father.

"I think I might call him-" James was cut off by the bird screeching at him.

"I think I'll call him Screecher." It seems like the only name that really fits him! A few weeks later at 10.41am the three Potters (James and his parents) arrived at Kingscross station inbetween platforms 9 and 10.

"Ready?" Asked James' mum.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Replied James.

"3... 2... 1... GO!" The trio ran at the wall to reach platform 9 3/4. As they entered the magical side to Kingscross station, smoke from the Hogwarts express steam train wafted into their faces. James looked up to his parents and they looked burried in sentimentality. Like they had just traveled back 20 years to when the first boarded the Hogwarts express at age 11. They wheeled the trolly with James' trunk and owl over to the luggage section of the train at the very back. Soon the returned to James who was slowly getting nervous about leaving his whole muggle life as a regular kid behind. But as he boarded the train and the steam engine whistled, those nerves turned into confidence because he was about to become a proper wizard!

After wandering around for a bit, trying to find a compartment that wasn't already full to the brim, he found another boy who looked as if he was in his first year aswell sitting alone. Both of us need a friend right now so I may as well introuduce myself!

"Hi, do you mind if I sit with you?" Asked James politely.

"Sure! I don't have any other friends that I'm waiting on." Replied the long haired boy. "My younger brother didn't even want to see me off today so why would anyone want to willingly spend time with me? I'm so sorry! We've known each other for less than a minute and I'm already comlaining. I haven't even asked you who you are!"

"I'm James Potter. Whats your name?"

"Black. Sirius Black. I would tell you a nickname my friends give me but as you can see I don't have any friends to give me nicknames... I'm still moaning aren't I?"

"Just a bit. But you should tell friends how you feel so thats what I'm here for!" The other 11 year old's face lit up with happiness, like he had never had someone call him a friend before. He flicked his long, wavy, brown hair out of his face to show off a huge smile to the boy sat opposite him. James felt a little sorry for the boy as he didn't look like someone who had been put in many social situations like friend making before. However, James had been to primary school and had had a completely muggle childhood- apart from playing quidditch with his parents instead of football and when he was a baby, his dad wouldn't just throw him in the air, he would use a floating charm on him and try not to make him crash into the ceiling light. Therefore, James tried his best to lead the conversations so that Sirius didn't have to think of what to say. After a few hours, a ladies voice echoed down the corridor.

"Anything from the trolly?" she repeated over and over again until someone would stop he and ask for something. Eventually, she reached the two boys. Sirius emptied his pockets to reaveal a few coins which would have barely covered a micro sized pack of Berty Botts Every Flavour Beans.

"I'll have 10 chocolate frogs and two cauldron cakes! That should do us!"

After James had payed, he retrieved the sweets he had bought, and gave half to his new friend which caused a shocked look to spread across Sirius' face!

"You don't have to give me anything!"

James didn't say anything he just placed everything next to Sirius on the chair.

"Honestly! You don't need to. My parent would have a right go at me for making us look poor because someone else has to buy some Hogwarts sweets for me!"

"If they didn't want their son's new best friend to buy them a few snacks then they should have given your more than a few sickels!"

"Are you sure? I don't want to take anything from you!"

"Just take it and stop being a drama queen!" The two boys just looked at each other for a couple seconds before bursting ot laughing and tucking into some of their treats.

After playing Berty Botts roulette a few times, Sirius always managing to win was extremely suspicious, they opened up their first chocolate frog each. The moment James opened his, the milky brown chocolate jumped off his card and tried to make a run for it. Just as it was about to jump through the window, James stuck out his left hand and grabbed the frog.

"Nice one James!"

After devouring the delicious chocolate, the boys high fived each other and checked what cards they got.

"I got Dumbledore! I wonder if he is as great as people say he is!"

"I guess we will find out very soon! I got Tom Riddle. Who's Tom Riddle?"

"My brother had him before! He was the best performing student in Hogwarts this Century. Even better than Dumbledore! He also helped out with the school from his second year all the way up until he was 25! He did it all for free as well!"

"I have a feeling thats not going to be us!"

"James, I don't know why but I have the exact same feeling..."


	2. The midnight adventure

The two boys pressed their faces against the window, the sun was begining to set and the moon was rising over the vast castle that was Hogwarts. Neither of them had got into their robes yet and they only remembered to do so when Prefects came into the compartments telling everyone that they would be arriving soon.

"Why are you two not in your uniform?" Asked a rather pompous looking Ravenclaw boy.

"Oh right! That's what we forgot to do!" James said as Sirius began pulling their trunks down.

"Well you better hurry up- we will be arriving in a few minutes!" Said the Prefect before sliding the door shut and gliding off down the corridor.

After two minutes, James and Sirius had managed to find their shirts, ties and robes out of their trunks and the train was only around another two minutes away from the school. They stuffed everything into their trunks and got dressed. Neither changed their shoes since they most likely wouldn't fit into their trunks (also they didn't have time). A loud whistle filled the air around them and both boys sat on top of their trunks to get them shut.

James and Sirius rapidly dragged their trunks off of the Hogwarts express and ran to meet up with the rest of the first year group.

"'Ello there!" Said a giant man who must have been double, triple, quadruple the size on anyone else James or Sirius had ever seen! "Are you two by any chance Mr Potter and Mr Black?"

"Yeah. How do you know who we are?" Sirius asked, catching his breath back.

"Professor Dumbledore has kindly provided me with a list of names this year that everyone must tick off once they arrive. And James Potter and Sirius Black are the final two names on 'ere!" He said proudly. "Anyway as I was sayin' to the lot of ya'- Me name's 'Agrid!" He adressed to the whole year group. "Follow me!"

All the exited eleven year olds followed this giant man down the platform and around the corner where there was a giant lake that's water looked pitch black and the only light hitting it was that of the bright moon and the millions of floating candles above it. Sirius and James hopped into a boat together and were joined by two other boys.

"Hi, is it ok if we join you?" Asked a tall skinny boy with light brown hair.

"Yeah of course!" James said, moving up so the other two could sit with them. None of them really spoke since they were too in awe of the gigantic castle that was their school. There were huge windows that more floating candles could be seen through and there were many turrets that looked like they were scraping the sky!

All too soon, the boats began to reach the bank on the other side of the river and all the eleven year olds had to climb out and follow Hagrid up to the large double doors at the front of the castle. The gold engraved, wooden doors swung open as the group approached them- blasting everyone with warm air compared to the fresh September night. Everyone huddled inside and the doors closed and made a locking noise as they slotted together.

As they made their way towards another set of large double doors that were very similar looking to the last set, there was a rather severe looking woman in a set of emerald green robes with her hair covered by a large hat that was the same shade of emerald. She was staring down at James and Sirius intently with her eyebrows slightly raised.

"Are you two boys going to tie your ties and do your top button up or do you intend to walk around our school like that?" She asked as the two boys realised that they hadn't had enough time to get ready properly.

"Sorry Professor. Shouldn't happen again!" Sirius said with an innocent smile.

"Welcome to Hogwarts first years! I am Professor McGonagall." She announced to everyone in a calm yet firm voice. "When you walk through these doors, you will be sorted into one of three houses- Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. One you have been sorted, you are to take a seat at your assigned table and get to know your housemates. You will be spending alot of time with them over the next seven years and they will be like your family!" James noticed that Sirius had an anxious look on his face so he nudged him slightly and smiled comfortingly to make his friend feel better.

"It'll be fine!" He whispered into Sirius' ear as McGonagall flung the doors open with a flick of her wand and sweapt into the Great Hall.

When the group reached the front of the hall and the rest of the school had settled, McGonagall pulled a little stool with a rather old looking hat- it was overall in one peice with just a few stitches loose and the colour slightly faded. Suddenly, where the hat seemed to just have loose seams, a mouth and two eyes appeared and the hat began belting out a song:

" **Oh you may think I'm pretty**

 **But don't judge on what you see,**

 **I'll eat myself if you can find**

 **A smarter hat than me.**

 **You can keep your bowlers black,**

 **Your top hats sleek and tall,**

 **For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**

 **And I can cap them all.** "

Alot of the first years, taken aback by the sudden burst of song, began to laugh whereas the older students seemed calm as anything. However, a select few of the first year kids looked at the old hat as if it were insane! James was too busy lauging at the hat to listen to the rest of the song but managed to see the little red- haired girl from the robe shop looking absolutely petrified!

"Now that you've all been introduced to the houses, the sorting ceremony may begin!" McGonagall announced, lifting the hat off the chair. "Black, Sirius!" James looked over to his new friend who visibly gulped when his name was called first. Why couldn't he have a last name halfway through the alphabet?

Cautiously, he stumbled up the steps and hopped onto the stool. He could feel the hat being placed on his head.

 _Another Black? Ususally I put all of you in Slytherin but this fresh head seemes different! It doesn't belong where the cunning stay. I can see your past which makes me lean towards_...

" **GRYFFINDOR**!" It yelled and Sirius didn't move for a few seconds, his hands gripped tight to the side of the stool but he soon remembered where he was and sped off towards the table where there were loads of cheering kids who began patting him on the back as he took his seat.

After a few more names had been called, James noticed that the red-haired girl had gone up and sat on the stool when "Evans, Lily" had been called. She was also in Gryffindor and she rushed over to go and sit with James' new friend.

The next person that James recognised was "Lupin, Remus." This was the tall skinny boy that asked to sit on the boat with Sirius and himself. Just like the other two people he knew- Remus ended up in Gryffindor. The name called before his was "Pettigrew, Peter." He followed Sirius, Lily and Remus to Gryffindor but only after around five minutes of the hat being on his head.

"Potter, James!" McGonagall called and James pushed through the thinning crowd of first years and sat upon the Sorting stool. He was a little worried that the only other four people he had seen before were all in the same house- what if he was in one of the other three? He wouldn't know anyone!

 _I see ambition and patience yet also creativity and bravery. You are truely a mix of everything yet the most powerful trait of all compels me to say:_

" **GRYFFINDOR**!" The hat yelled and James ran over to where his friend was.

The rest of the ceremony went on and James sat next to Sirius, clapping exitedly whenever a new Gryffindor was announced- there were few more and all girls. James didn't know if he would get to know them too well but still decided to be friendly. One of the last people who was called was "Snape, Severus" who practically fell up the stairs since he slipped on his oversized robes.

" **SLYTHERIN**!" Shouted the sorting hat and the boy stood up and held his robes up when walking down the stairs. Just as he was about to reach his table, he let out a giant sneeze which caused him to walk into the table and whack his hip on the corner of it.

"Snivillus Snape hurt himself!" Sirius shouted before hiding his face so none of the Professors would be able to tell who had shouted it. A wave of giggles ran over the school- including a few teachers who attempted to hide it.

"Enough of that!" McGonagall shouted from the front of the Hall and the room fell silent again. She then proceeded with the rest of the list.

After the very last person had been sorted, a very elderly man who must have been in his early 90s rose from his extravagant chair.

"Now that you have all been assigned to your most fitting houses, we may let the feast begin!" He anounced with a flourish of his wrists and piles upon piles of food appered on the once empty plates infront of everyone. Like lightning, James began spooning food onto his plate- there was succulent meats and crispy roast potatoes along with gallons of pumpkin juice!

"You're the boys from the boat aren't you?" Asked the boy who James had learned to be Remus Lupin. "James wasn't it?"

"Yeah and you were Remus and Peter." James confirmed as Remus and Peter nodded back. Sirius stayed silent- he didn't appappear to have moved since he had been sorted.

"Sirius, are you alright mate?" He asked and the boy looked up at him, his silver/ grey eyes practically dead.

"I'm fine!" He whispered before taking a little bit of food and putting it on his plate. Over the course of the feast, Sirius picked at the food he had got himself and stayed very quiet.

"Are you sure you're alright?" James asked when everyone began following the head boy and head girl to the common rooms.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the dorms." Sirius mumbled as he stuffed his hands in his robe pockets.

The Gryffindor students made their way up the dangerous moving staircases that someone must have fallen off at some point in the past and were soon faced with a rather large lady in a portrait.

"This is the enterance to the Gryffindor common room and dormitories!" Said the head boy as he turned to face all the first years.

"This years password is detencione. You must remember this or you will be forced to wait outside until someone who can help comes along!" The head girl warned.

"Could everyone at the back hear that?" The head boy asked and all the upper years nodded.

The portrait swung open and a small opening appeared with a door on the other wall- kind of like an air lock. When the second door was opened, a bright scarlet and gold room was revealed with several roaring fireplaces and many sofas dotted around the place.

"First years stand to the side, we need to go over some things before you go to your dorm rooms!" Called the head boy and the small group of eleven year olds stood by one of the fireplaces. Once everyone was gone and doing their own thing, the rules were layed down.

"Hello I'm Deborah and I'm Gryffindor's head girl!" Said the friendly girl who had been leading the group. "Your dorm rooms are up either of those staircases. Girls you're on the right and boys the left. Since you lot are first years, lights out is at 10pm. This will vary as you go up the school. Once it is 10pm, no one apart from prefects and head boys and girls are allowed out of the common rooms."

"And I'm Micheal, head boy. You shouldn't be out of your dorm rooms after 10 but that never happens- probably not even in the Ravenclaw common rooms and this year they have some right stuck up prefects!"

"Michael!" Exclaimed Deborah, lightly hitting him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry- the Ravenclaw prefects follow the rules like they will die if they don't!" He said as Debbie rolled her eyes.

"I give up with you! First years you're free to go- you will find all of your belongings are in your dormitories. If there are any questions please don't hesitate to ask!" She said and all the girls went over to the right staircase whereas the four first year boys went to the left.

"So whats up?" James asked as they walked into the dorm room at the very top of the tower. Sirius had a frightened look spread across his face and he was rubbing his arm.

"I don't belong here!" He whispered so the other two couldn't hear him. "I have to be in Slytherin!"

"You're so brave, you were the first to be sorted! Of course you belong here!" James said, patting Sirius' shoulder.

"No- I'm a Black! Have you ever heard of that family?" He asked anxiously.

"I may have- I'm not really sure." James replied as he found his trunk and owl and took a seat on his bed.

"All the Blacks have been in Slytherin- my parents are going to kill me when they find out I'm a Gryffindor!" Sirius complained as Remus and Peter turned to look at him.

"Then don't tell them! What they don't know won't kill them!" James suggested.

"But it's not that simple! There's a sixth year called Lucius Malfoy- he's a family 'friend'. He's bound to tell my parents!" Sirius said, almost in tears. "I've always been the least favourite- and that's never going to change!"

"If it means that much to you, I know a spell that could turn your robes green!" Remus offered after having listened to the conversation.

"Do you really?" Sirius exclaimed, a spark of joy lighting up his face.

"Pass me your robes." Remus said, holding out his hand and digging into his pocket and pulling out his wand. Sirius slipped off his red- collared robes and passed them to the tall boy who layed them down on the floor.

"Conversus viridi!" He exclaimed and the scarlet collar turned jade green.

"Merlin's beard! Where d'you learn how to do that?" The shorter boy (Peter) exclaimed.

"My parents got me a new spell book every year for my birthday. And I've spent my whole childhood reading through them!" Remus said, blushing slightly since most other wizards his age would want the newest broomstick or something of that nature.

"Thank you!" Sirius said, astonished that this other eleven year old was able to pull off a spell like that on his first night at Hogwarts.

"If you pass me your tie I can change that too!" Remus offered and Sirius loosened the red and gold tie before handing that over aswell. Remus used the same charm on the tie as he had done with the robes and soon enough, Sirius was decked out in a full Slytherin uniform.

"Hang on- if you're a Slytherin now then surely you should be in the Slytherin common rooms!" Peter said as Sirius sat smiling like an idiot.

"Of course! We can take you down there!" James announced, jumping up off his bed.

"But it's already 10:30!" Remus pointed out. "No one is allowed out of the common rooms!"

"And your point is?" James asked and Remus just sighed into his hands.

"Come on if we work together then we can most likely carry his trunk down to the common rooms." Peter said as he grabbed one end of the trunk and James and Sirius got the other.

"Come on then- we can't do it by ourselves!" James exclaimed and Remus begrudgingly held the other handle next to the one Peter had a firm grip on.

"Excuse me! Where are you going?" Asked Micheal as the four of them tried to slip through the common room unnoticed.

"This is um..." Peter said, trying to think of a name.

"Brian... Farthinghower!" James exclaimed, realising afterwards that the name he had made up was completely and utterly stupid!

"What? That's clearly not..."

"Yes it is! Brain Farthinghower is a lost Slytherin- we need to return him to his habitat... I mean place thing." Remus blurted desperately.

"Brian Farthinghower isn't a person- that's Sirius Black!" Debbie exclaimed.

"What are yous on about?" Sirius asked in a fake American accent that was very overly Southern. "I is Brian! Definitely not this Sirius fella- in fact I'm not serious at all!"

"Yes we can tell!" Called a random fifth year.

"Now that's just offensive!" Peter exclaimed.

"Well nice chat- lovely to meet up with you- got to go return Brain to his real home!" James said and began ushering the boys out of the common room.

Once out in the open, the four boys placed the heavy trunk down on the ground and looked left and right to try and figure out where the Slytherin common room was.

"If I were a snake where would I be?" James thought out loud.

"What?" Remus asked, puzzled by James' train of thought.

"Slytherins are snakes- like we are lions and Ravenclaws are eagles and Hufflepuffs are badgers!"

"Just because that's the house emblem doesn't mean that they are physically that animal!" Remus argued.

"Well from what I've heard, Slytherins are pretty snake like!" Peter protested.

"Well if we have any chance of getting there, we need to start looking!" Sirius exclaimed and the four boys began shuffling down the corridor.

As they passed all the portraits, they would complain that the four of them would keep bumping into the suits of armor since they couldn't see properly in the dark.

"Do you know what would annoy them even more?" Asked a sly voice that made all four of them jump out of their skin.

"Who's there?" Asked Sirius with his wand pointed.

"Say lumos! Then you'll know where you're going!" The voice said.

"Lumos!" Remus said pointing his wand down at the ground. Surprisingly, it actually lit up and didn't explode or something. He put his wand between his teeth and could now see the other three properly.

"Lumos!" Said James, Sirius and Peter and their wands also lit up, a bright white light glowing at the tip. However, the voice was nowhere to be found.

"Who was talking?" Remus asked, taking his wand from between his teeth.

"Why it was me of course!" Said a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth that had a huge grin painted on it. He seemed to have materialised out of thin air, startling the four eleven year olds who all let out panicked screams.

"Where did you come from?" Exclaimed Peter.

"My dear boy- I have been here all this time, you just haven't seen me yet!" Said the little man. "I'm Peeves by the way- your friendly (ish) neighbourhood poltergeist!"

"Are you meant to be really annoying or something?" Sirius asked, remembering someone talking about poltergeists at home some time.

"I am whatever you interpret me to be though I can't think why but many people think I am annoying. Quite annoying don't you think?" Peeves said, leaving the four boys slightly puzzled.

"Yeah- whatever you say!" Remus agreed skeptically.

"So what would three young Gryffindors and obviously, how could anyone forget the young Slytherin be doing outside of their common rooms after hours?" He asked, tutting his finger.

"We need to get our Slytherin friend to his dorm room." James said, not bothering with the whole story since the poltergeist wasn't going to tell on them- he had one in the attic once and all it did was annoy everyone for a week before it was captured.

"Ahh your 'Slytherin' friend. Well I am most pleased to tell you that you're going the wrong way! How long have you been coming this way?" He asked with a sly smile.

"Around 30 minutes!" Peter admitted.

"I'm sorry boys- that's 30 minutes wasted!" He said, shaking his head.

"Anyway- have fun! I'll probably be seeing you again soon!" He said before disappearing into thin air again.

"What? No come back! How do we get to the common room?" James shouted down the corridor.

"Shhh!" Remus hissed, clapping his hand over James' mouth.

"Can you put that stupid light out?" Asked a very grumpy portrait who was covering his eyes with his hands.

"Well if we turn the light off then we will bump into everything and quite possibly fall down a moving staircase!" Sirius whispered back.

"Then go away- bother someone else!" Snapped the painting.

After around 15 minutes, the boys were back at the Gryffindor common room, their time had been halved since they actually see where they were going at that point! They decided to head down the stairs in hope that Slytherin's common room would be in somewhere besides a tower like Gryffindor's.

They moved very slowly down the stairs incase it decided to move unexpectedly. Luckily it didn't but then the four of them realised that that staircase was one out of a possible 142! Somehow, after a few hours of wondering aimlessly around the castle, the four boys seemed to only have gone down one or two flights of stairs.

"If we're ever going to find this common room then we will need to be quick- it'll probably be sunrise soon!" James whispered. The foursome began moving quicker until Sirius began to shrink- not physically but just shrink into the ground.

"What's happening?" He panicked, unable to move his feet.

"I don't know! Maybe it's some form of pretend step!" Remus suggested, placing Sirius' trunk down to one side.

"Should we lift him out?" Peter asked.

"No lets leave him there stuck where he will look like he's been chopped in half since his legs will be hanging out the bottom of the step!" James remarked sarcasticly.

"Don't fight!" Remus complained. "Now come and help me!"

James wrapped his arms around Sirius and Remus and Peter both grabbed an arm each.

"3... 2... 1... Go!" The three of them pulled Sirius out of the floor.

"Ok mental note- don't step on that step!" Sirius said as he sat down on the staircase.

"Yeah that would be a good idea!" James agreed.

"Thanks for rescuing me! If not I probably would have sunk through the whole step and fallen out the other end- most likely dying!" Sirius added very bluntly.

"We wouldn't have left you! The whole point in us being here is to get you to the Slytherin dorms!" Remus laughed.

"Which we will probably never find at this rate!" Peter exclaimed.

"Well lets carry on then- hopefully we'll find them before sunrise!" James said, helping lift the trunk up again.

After around another hour of wondering aimlessly, the four of them found the Great Hall. At least James, Remus and Peter would know how to get back to the Gryffindor dorms afterwards.

Just down the corridor, there was another staircase- this one didn't move but was lined with more paintings. These didn't seem to move so the four of them wouldn't have to worry about complaints from anyone trying to sleep!

Around halfway down the steep spiral staircase, James nearly tripped down a step, causing him to drop his part of the trunk and fall into the wall. An insane laugh came from the painting and the wall James' was leaning on opened up, resulting in him faceplanting. Sirius then burst out laughing and placed the trunk down to go and help his friend.

Just as he was about to pull James up from the floor, he was startled by the huge swarm of house elves wearing little night caps who were all rubbing their large golf- ball eyes and staring at him.

"What are four young students doing out of bed?" Asked one brave elf.

"Hi I'm Sirius Black, this is James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. We've been up all night trying to find the Slytherin common rooms!" Sirius said as he approached the tiny elves. They all backed away from him- they seemed quite terrified!

"The previous Black abused us poor house elves! He would treat us like vermin!" One elf admitted. Sirius' face fell, his father had never been kind to their house elf Kreacher- now he knew where he got it from.

"I don't like my parents- the only reason we are trying to find the Slytherin common rooms is because I was sorted into Gryffindor and I'm scared of what my parents will do!" Sirius admitted with a kind smile.

"Do you think you could help us?" James asked.

"Why of course Master James Potter and Master Sirius Black!" Squeaked the elf.

"Well before we get started what would you like us to call you? I don't think calling you Sir while you're helping us is quite appropriate- you deserve your name!" Remus asked and the elf looked taken aback.

"To call a house elf Sir? That is much above our reputation!" The elf squeaked.

"But you're just like a witch or wizard- you deserve that respect!" Peter chimed in.

"Such kind students!" He said to himself. "I am Toody!"

"Well it's nice to meet you Toody!" Sirius said kindly as he stood up.

"Anyway- common rooms this way!" Said the little house elf exitedly. "You know I don't get out of the kitchens much!" He added, skipping out of the room and up the stairs. Just as the four boys went to pick the trunk up, it began floating up in the air with a smiple click of Toody's long bony fingers.

There was another staircase at the very end of the corridor that the house elf ran down before rounding the corner.

"Ta da!" He exclaimed, presenting a blank wall. "Now all you need to do is tell it the password!"

"There's a password?" Sirius asked.

"You don't know the password?" Remus exclaimed.

"I didn't know there was one!" Sirius argued.

"Toody, do you know the password?" James asked.

"Sadly Toody is no use here Master James Potter!" The little elf remarked, bowing his head.

"Do you think we could figure it out?" Peter asked.

"We could try!" James said. "If I were a snake what would I say?"

"They aren't snakes!" Remus sighed.

James approched the wall after a few seconds.

"Hiss hiss!" He whispered and nothing happened for a few seconds before icy water drenched him from head to toe! Sirius burst out laughing again as did Remus and Peter. Toody also began to laugh but disguised it the best he could.

"That's what you get for being stupid!" Remus exclaimed as a wet James came and stood next to him.

"I will hug you!" James threatened.

"That doesn't help your case mate!" Sirius said.

"So what do Slytherins like?" Peter asked.

"Well if they're anything like my parents then all they want is power!" Sirius complained.

"What's that in like Latin or something?" Remus asked.

"No clue!" Sirius replied.

"Wasn't the Slytherin founder really prejudice?" Peter asked.

"Salazar Slytherin thought that muggle-born witches and wizards shouldn't study magic!" Sirius said. "Load of rubbish if you ask me!"

"Try luto sanguine!" Toody piped up. "It's not a very nice translation but it might work!"

"Luto sanguine!" James announced to the wall and it opened up.

"Nice one James!" Sirius said, high fiving his friend and dragging his trunk to the entrance.

"What does that translate to Toody?" Remus asked.

"Mudblood..." The house elf whispered nervously. Remus' face fell. Sirius stopped pulling his trunk across the floor and his smile faded.

"What is it?" Peter asked. "Do you not want to be in Slytherin anymore?" Sirius stood in silence for a few seconds before dragging his trunk away from the common room. The wall closed up again and no one would have known that it had been opened in the first place.

"I don't want to be associated with that house if that's the password! I don't give two hoots about my parents!" He announced. "I'd rather be with you guys! I get if you think I'm really annoying but this isn't what I want!" Sirius' robes began turning scarlet again- as did his tie.

"Do you know what that means?" James asked.

"What what means?"

"Your robes are going the correct colour because you're showing the magic that Remus put onto them that you belong in Gryffindor!" James explained.

"Since when were you so soppy?" Remus asked.

"Since he got drenched in cold water- it made him sopping wet!" Peter remarked.

"Shut up!" He said, playfully hitting Peter on the shoulder and starting to walk off.

"Are you coming then?" Remus asked Sirius who was stood with his trunk.

"You're going to let me back?" He asked.

"Even if we didn't want to we would have to- the whole school saw you get sorted and unless you're going to try and trick the Professors to calling you Brian, I think it's best if you come back!" James exclaimed with a soft laugh.

"Toody, would you do us a favour?" Peter asked.

"Why of course Master Peter Pettigrew!" Toody squeaked.

"Could you do that thing where you make the trunk float!"

"Toody could do that yes. Toody can also take you the shorter way- through the secret passages!"

"That sound amazing!" Sirius exclaimed, his smile and playful attitude returning.

The four Gryffindors followed the little house elf through tiny tunnels and long passageways until they reached the fat lady portrait.

"Detencione." James whispered and nothing happened.

"Detencione." Peter said a little louder.

"Detencione!" Sirius shouted to have Remus push him and hiss at him to be quiet. Still nothing happened.

"Lumos." Remus whispered- the fat lady was fast alseep and didn't even wake up when the light from Remus' wand was shone in her face.

"Now that's just not fair!" Peter exclaimed.

"Hello! Mrs Portrait Lady! Wake up!" James called but still nothing.

"James be quiet! Someone could hear you!" Remus hissed and just as he did, someone came up behind them.

"I'm afraid you're a little late for that." McGonagall said, dressed in a long robe and nightcap with slippers sticking out of the bottom.

"Professor McGonagall! The portrait won't wake up so how are we meant to get in?" Sirius asked, nodding his head proudly as if he were saying 'I've thought of everything'.

"Well either all of you have been out of bed after hours or she's been asleep since 10pm when you were meant to be in bed and none of you four could be bothered to get anyone's help for five and a half hours!" She suggested. "And judging by how you have a house elf accompanying you- my bets are on out of bed after hours!" The four boys were shocked at how good McGonagall was at reasoning.

"I will let you off this time but if it happens again you can expect yourself in detention." She announced before approaching the portrait and waving her wand at the portrait without saying anything.

"What happened?" The fat lady asked, clearly startled.

"These four boys wish to get into the dormitories please. Detencione!" The portrait swung open and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all climbed in.

"Goodnight Professor!" Peter called, trying to make a good impression since he had a feeling they would be getting into trouble again in the future.

"Goodnight Mr Pettigrew, Mr Potter, Mr Lupin, Mr Black!" She replied before walking off, carrying on the way she had been going.

As the four of them made their way up to the dorm room again, still carrying Sirius' heavy trunk, they realised how much they needed to sleep! Running around the castle with a house elf and trying to avoid the Professors was fun and gave them all an adrenaline rush but now the adrenaline had worn off and all four of them could feel how late it was through their droopy eyelids and heavy feet.

Sirius pushed his trunk into place at the end of his bed which made a very loud scraping sound. He winced as it echoed slightly up the chimney- he felt sorry for whoever was in the room directly below them since they had definitely just been woken up. Luckily there wasn't a room above them for if there had been, that would just be more people that had been woken up.

Everyone got changed into their pyjamas and tucked themselves into bed, falling asleep the moment their heads hit the pillow. Their robes were all either piled on top of their not unpacked trunks or strewn on the floor apart from Remus' since he had folded his neatly and put them in a pile on his trunk- he was definitely the neat one out of the four.

As morning came, the four boys were woken up by the bright sunlight seeping into the room since the curtains hadn't been closed the previous night! It was only when an alarm clock went off on top of a huge cabinet that they realised they needed to wake up.

"James get up and help us turn this stupid thing off!" Sirius said but James refused.

"It's warm in bed!" James complained.

"We have lessons today. We need to be on time just for one day of the year!" Remus said, trying to knock the clock down by bashing on the wooden cabinet.

"Ugh! Fine!" James complained and the moment he stood up, the alarm stopped ringing.

"Can that clock tell when we're in and out of bed?" Peter asked, suspicious of the little alarm clock.

"Obviously it can. So if anyone doesn't get up in the morning then we can blame them when we go deaf!" Sirius said, quickly glancing at James.

"Technically, you could only go deaf if your ears are exposed to a sound above a certain amount of decibels- not to a noise that's perfectly within the threshold of safety that's repeated for a long time!" Remus said and the other three looked over at him like he was crazy.

"It's too early to try and comprehend what you just said!" Sirius exclaimed with a large yawn as he pulled his shirt on and fumbled with the buttons.

"Can anyone here tie a tie?" James asked. "Yesterday I just tied it in a knot and hoped for the best but I probably won't get away with that today."

"Nope!" Said Peter and Sirius simultaneously.

"How did you tie them yesterday?" Remus asked.

"Someone else did it for me." Peter said as if it were obvious.

"I didn't even try. Just left it undone." Sirius said as Remus rolled his eyes.

After tying his own tie, Remus went and did the other three. James, Sirius and Peter were all astonished at how quickly he could tie them, considering they had never even attempted trying it.

"Do you actually spend your life doing stuff?" James asked as Remus tightened his tie.

"It may come as a shock to you but some things can come in useful!" Remus explained as they left the dorm room.

"Nothing I've ever done was useful." Sirius said, making the other three laugh. "I'm not joking! My parents always moan at me because I'm useless."

James, Remus and Peter weren't sure what to say to this. Who's parents consistently complain at their kid for being 'useless'?

"I don't think you're useless." James said, wrapping one arm around Sirius and giving his shoulder a friendly hug.

"You sure?" Sirius sighed.

"Why would we think you're useless?" Remus asked.

"I can't do anything! We were caught out of bed yesterday because of me, that's because I was placed in the wrong house and I also didn't know any magic to help me!" Sirius complained.

"First of all, you weren't in the 'wrong house'- the sorting hat put you in Gryffindor because you belong there!" Peter said. "Secondly, we haven't been to any lessons yet so how could you know any magic?"

"Remus does." Sirius mumbled.

"That's only because I didn't do anything else with my life." Remus replied.

"And anyway, I was the one who got us caught! I was shouting at the portrait." James said, ruffling Sirius' hair.

"But you wouldn't..."

"It's not your fault!" Remus exclaimed. "Stop blaming yourself so much for such a tiny thing that wasn't even you!"

"Fine." Sirius sighed, not meaning it at all. He was fully convinced that anything he did was wrong- that's how it had been his whole life and he didn't see it changing anytime soon...


	3. Rule Breakers

As the four boys sat down at the breakfast table and began tucking into bacon and eggs or porridge or toast, since there was everything imaginable on the tables, they recognised a farmiliar voice that was soon matched with a farmiliar face.

"Hello boys!" Peeves sneered. "How was your little trip around the castle last night?" He asked, pretending to lie down on his stomach with his head propped up by his hand but actually floating just over everyone's heads.

"It was good..." James said, not wanting to walk into the poltergeist's trap.

"Just approximately how long did it take?" He asked with a smirk.

"Several hours." Remus muttered. Peeves burst out laughing.

"Did it really? Firsties are so stupid!" He exclaimed, pretending to wipe tears of joy from his eyes. "I sent you in directly the wrong way! Of course if you saw past my plan and went the right way then I would have annoyed you every step of the way but that's completely off the point!"

"What did you gain out of doing that?" Asked Peter who immediately regretted speaking when Peeves turned to look at him.

"Because if I slow you down getting to the dungeons then you're more likely to get a detention which then means there's less teachers around the corridors so I can go and annoy more people!" He said cheerfully.

"The dungeons! What did you need to go to the dungeons for?" Lily asked from across the table. This was when Peeves realised that everyone was watching them.

"No reason!" Remus snapped before Peeves could say anything.

"Not at all!" Peeves agreed sarcasticly. "Not like you were escorting your 'Slytherin' friend to his new dorm room. I don't think you ever did explain why you didn't want to be in Gryffindor little boy!" Peeves added, floating next to Sirius and pulling on his hair. Whispers began to pass around the nearby area that soon spread further and further away.

"Peeves!" Boomed a deep voice that was rather intimidating. "Leave the first years alone!"

"Right away Oh Bloodiest of Barons!" Peeves said with a little bow before turning invisible and his cackling voice fading away.

"Thank you Sir!" James said to the ghost who looked down at him as if he were superior to him.

"You're welcome first year." He sneered before glancing to the other Gryffindors. His eyes rested on Sirius for a few moments. The ghost opened his mouth to speak but before he could make a noise, Sirius had got up and walked directly through him (shivering slightly as he emerged) and went out of the Great Hall.

The moment he left, all the owls with the morning post came swooping in. James noticed that a large black owl was coming very close to him and when if flew over his head, it dropped a letter. Jame didn't recognise this owl but when he checked the front of the envelope, it read:

 _Sirius Orion Black_

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

 _Gryffindor table_

James didn't want to pry into Sirius' privacy so he got up and chased after him with the letter in his hand. When he reached the common room, he saw Sirius curled up on the sofa infront of the fire, half his face burried in his robes.

"Sirius..." James said gently. Sirius whipped his head around, clearly a little shaken up by all the attention.

"What?" He snapped nervously.

"You got a letter." He said, handing the envelope over to Sirius who looked terrified of the thing. Nevertheless, he snatched it from James' grasp and ripped it open, scanning the words on the page. When he reached the bottom of the parchment, he scrunched it up and tossed it aside before rushing upstairs to the dorm room.

James picked up the scrunched up parchment and unfolded it cautiously. He may not want to pry but he had to know what was wrong with his friend.

 _Dear Sirius Black,_

 _I am writing on behalf of Mr and Mrs Black, known to you as mother and father, to inform you on their recently descovered information concerning your arrival at Hogwarts SSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It has come to their attention through your relative Lucius Malfoy that last night you were sorted into Gryffindor house- this is a serious issue since the house of Black has associated itself with Slytherin house ever since it's existance became known. Also they will be serving the correct punishment when you return due to your outlandish behaviour._

 _Written on behalf of the Black family by Kreacher, house elf and servant_

James was upset on behalf of Sirius. He had only known this boy for a day and he already knew that he didn't deserve any of that. James stuffed the letter in his robe pocket and followed Sirius up to the top of Gryffindor tower and into the dorm room.

"Sirius..." He said, half knocking on the door. Sirius was sat by the window, looking out onto the quidditch pitch and the black lake and the hills and feilds beyond it all. He didn't look around when James came in, he just subtley rubbed his eyes and continued to stare out of the window.

"This is why I wanted to be in Slytherin. I knew I should have stayed- it would have been a good match considering I'm a Black." Sirius mumbled, resting his chin on his knees.

"Look at me." James said, sitting next to him on the windowsill. "You are not your family! Over the past day I've seen someone kind, friendly and brave. That's why you were sorted into Gryffindor- you're brave enough to be here!"

Sirius looked up at James with his eyes but didn't move his head. His eyes didn't have the glistening spark they had done before breakfast and there was no longer a smile spread across his lips.

"You call it brave, I call it stupid and wreckless." He muttered, pulling his eyes away from James and curling into a tighter ball. James wasn't really sure how to respond to that, he just sat and looked at the eleven year old infront of him. This wasn't how he pictured kids his age. He would usually imagine someone happy and carefree but this boy infront of him, his best friend no less, was the opposite of that. James had to do something about that!

"You aren't stupid! From what I've heard you've gone through more than anyone else in this dorm room!" He said as Remus and Peter walked in. "And from what I've seen of you, I can tell you didn't deserve any of it! Doesn't matter that I don't know what it was!"

"He's right! James is always happy and so are Remus and I!" Peter added. "But you have been put through something you shouldn't have!"

"Yeah- no one deserves anything like that!" Remus sighed, looking past James and Sirius and out of the window himself.

"We all want you to be happy. So let us help you!" James said, patting Sirius' shoulder. He just sighed in response and got up from the windowsill.

"It'll be class soon. We need to get going." He said as he picked his bag up from the floor and slung it over his shoulder.

James, Peter and Remus shared a look of helplessness before collecting their bags and following Sirius out of the dorm. Their first ever lesson was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. From what the four of them had seen from her, she hadn't shown a huge liking for the four of them.

"Good morning class. I hope you've all settled in nicely to Hogwarts and got to know your house mates well. I know some have!" She said, swiftly glancing at James and Sirius and then Remus and Peter just behind them. "May I warn you that Transfiguration can be very dangerous so any messing around and you will be out of my classroom and not allowed re-entery faster than I can turn my chalkboard into a writing desk!" She added, making all of the students quite nervous. "May everyone take out your copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_."

The class took out their textbooks and placed them on the desk infront of them. McGonagall pointed her wand at her chalkboard and the chalk sprung to life and started scribbling down information. Everyone pulled out some parchment and ink and dipped their quills into it as all the questions were written onto the chalkboard.

"I shall be coming around and inspecting your work. If the amount or quality is insufficient then, despite it being the first day, I will make sure the proper punishment is served." McGonagall announced when the lesson was almost over. She briefly scanned over all the students' work and stopped when she reached the back where Remus and Peter were sat. "Mr Lupin does this work look complete to you?" She asked, holding Remus' parchment a little closer to her face.

"No Professor." He sighed.

"Then why is this all you've done?" She asked.

"It's my fault! I needed help." Peter squeaked.

"Well surely if Mr Lupin was to bring it upon himself to teach another on his first day then he would ensure he has the work done first!" McGonagall suggested, placing Remus' work down.

"Sorry Professor." He sulked.

"You will be serving detention with me on Sunday night Mr Lupin." She said.

"But Professor it's my fault!" Peter snapped. "He doesn't deserve detention!"

"Mr Pettigrew, how about we make a deal?" McGonagall offered. "If Mr Lupin can turn this matchstick into a needle and back again, the detention may just slip my mind. However if he can't then he will be seeing me this Sunday as arranged!"

Remus pointed the wand at the matchstick that McGonagall had placed infront of him on the desk and said an incantation that sounded remotely Latin. The matchatick didn't transform. It just went from having a pink end to being black like it had just been lit and blown out immediately!

"Too bad Mr Lupin. My office on Sunday at 7pm." She said before dismissing the class. Everyone collected their textbooks, ink and quills into their bags and filed out of the classroom.

"That's so unfair!" James exclaimed as they rounded the corner. "Giving you detention on the first day for not being able to do something I bet no first year can!"

"Yeah well can't do much about it now!" Remus replied.

"I'm really sorry!" Peter sighed.

"Don't blame yourself." Remus said. "It's not a big deal."

On the wall in the common room that night there was a poster. Many students went to look at it but all but the first years walked away looking mildly disappointed.

 _Attention all First years!_

 _Starting on Monday 6th September, you will be taking flying lessons. Any students who do not wish to take these lessons for personal reasons are to speak to the head of house._

"Why wouldn't you take them?" James asked. At home him and his parents often played mini quidditch matches. Him and his dad would score as many points as possible before his mum caught the snitch- that of course had a limiting charm put on it otherwise they may never find it!

"Maybe some people are scared of heights." Peter gulped, scuffing his shoe nervously.

"Come on you've got to do it!" Sirius said. "If you don't then that's just boring!"

"Not everyone likes flying Sirius!" Remus said as they went up to the dorm room to drop off their bags.

"But you've got to at least try!" James agreed with Sirius. "Don't quit before you've seen what it's like."

"Fine. I'll give it a go." Peter reluctantly agreed.

"Don't worry. I'm scared of heights too." Remus whispered, comforting Peter slightly since he wasn't the only Gryffindor scared of something.

Sunday came by quickly and Remus dragged himself off to detention with McGonagall in her office. Apart from that, the boys' first week had gone very well! No homework had been set and no one else had landed themselves in detention. Out of the four of them, Remus seemed the least likely to get a detention, never mind in the first week, but everyone knew that it wouldn't be wise to argue with Professor McGonagall. She just looked like the kind of person who would always manage to win- even if she was wrong! But that probably wouldn't happen!

When 9pm rolled around, James, Sirius and Peter began to question Remus' whereabouts. Surely McGonagall wouldn't make him stay in detention for that long over some incomplete work! The sun was starting to set and Sirius was sat looking out of the window. He could see the full moon rising in the distance. His eyes flicked downwards to see McGonagall transform from a cat.

"Guys look at this!" He exclaimed, beckoning the two others to the window and pointing down at McGonagall. "She just transformed from a cat!"

"What?" Peter asked, confused as to what Sirius was on about.

"McGonagall! She was a cat and now she's... McGonagall." Sirius explained, just as confused as Peter was.

"Well it isn't lights out yet so we could ask her if she's seen Remus. Because if she's there then where is he?" James said and the other two immediately agreed.

There were a few groups of people in the common room who were just sat talking. They didn't notice the three boys go past, and if they did, they payed no attention to them.

When they got to the double doorway that lead out to the back of the castle, where the dark forest was, they saw that it was unlocked- most likely meaning that McGonagall was still outside. James, Sirius and Peter pushed the heavy door open and ran outside into the cool September night air and saw McGonagall nowhere. However there was a tabby cat on the ground that seemed to have a sort of greyish coat of fur.

"Thats her!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing at the angry looking cat. The trio ran over to it, alerting her that they were there. Immediately, she transfigured from her cat form.

"What are you three doing outside now?" She snapped, looking agitated.

"We just want to know where Remus is." James said, making McGonagall look even more on edge.

"He's in the hospital wing at the minute. He won't be out until tomorrow!" McGonagall said before trying to push the boys away.

"Why?" Sirius asked, worried for his new friend.

"He's injured himself, must have fallen down some stairs. I just heard him fall while I was in my office." McGonagall replied, getting more anxious by the minute. "Don't go and visit him right now though. He hit his head and it probably asleep by now if Madame Pomfrey has him on painkillers." She added quickly.

"Can't she just use magic?" Peter asked.

"Don't question it! And go back inside- it's not safe right now!" McGonagall snapped.

"Why not?" Sirius asked before going as pale as a sheet of parchment. McGonagall whipped her head around and was face to face with a werewolf.

"Inside!" She yelled before transfiguring into a cat. The werewolf no longer seemed too interested in her once she was an animal and instantaneously sought after one of the three boys. As he was running, James felt the beast pull at his leg and he tripped, his glasses flying off his face so he couldn't see properly.

"James!" Sirius yelled, running back to save him. James looked up into the werewolf's eyes with terror. Suddenly, a blast of red light flew past his head and the wolf was sent flying sideways and hit the wall to the castle with a low wimper. However, as it did, one of its long claws scratched through James' trouser leg and created a deep cut in his leg.

"Boys- inside now!" McGonagall yelled as the werewolf began to stand up. Sirius and Peter both let James put an arm around them and the trio hobbled inside, slamming the door behind them.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked, looking at the gash in James' leg.

"Don't look at it!" Came a voice from behind them. "I'm Lily Evans by the way." She said, realising that she hadn't properly introduced herself.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked as James tried to stand himself up.

"I saw you through the window. My dorm mates, Marlene and Mary have already gone to sleep." Lily said. "But I would go to the hospital wing if I were you."

"Can't- it's closed." James said, leaning on Sirius and Peter to keep himself upright.

"Ever heard of knocking? Someone might answer the door!" Lily exclaimed, her voice laced with sarcasm before walking away and back up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

Sirius and Peter helped James hobble through the halls to reach the hospital wing. There was a small notice on the door that looked quite fresh, like the ink hadn't fully dried yet.

 _Sorry if this causes any inconvenience but the hospital wing will be closed for tonight. If you have any severe injuries that must be attended to, please knock and I will come and see you._

 _-Madame Pomfrey._

Peter knocked on the door since James needed both his arms for stabilising himself and the scuff of shoes could be heard across the floor. A lady who must have been around thirty slipped through the door that was ever so slightly ajar before closing it after her.

"Yes. What is it?" She asked. "You're not here to see Mr Lupin are you?"

"No I was attacked by a werewolf. Just now!" James said, sticking his leg out so Madame Pomfrey could see. She went a shade paler than before and told the trio to wait outside while she sorted something out.

When she emerged again, she ushered the three inside before closing the doors again. James sat down on a hospital bed and noticed there were white curtains surrounding another bed in the corner of the room. That must be where Remus is.

"Pop your leg up on here!" She said, patting the bed before slipping on a pair of gloves. "It's not a bite is it?"

"No it's a scratch." James confirmed. If it had been a bite then he would nost likely turned into a werewolf himself. Luckily (he wouldn't really consider being attacked by a werewolf lucky but being scratched is bettet than bitten) he had managed to get away before it had the chance to bite him.

"Have you lost alot of blood?" Pomfrey asked, cleaning out James' wound. Before then, James hadn't actually looked at it and it made him want to vomit when he saw the huge cut that was turning a weird green colour.

"I don't know." James admitted.

"I think you lost a bit but considering the size of the cut, not much." Sirius explained. "But you might have outside- it was too dark to tell."

"Well I just want to tell you that this won't heal properly. You'll always have a scar there." Pomfrey warned. "Werewolf scars don't fade."

"That's fine- as long as I don't die! I won't die right?" James said. Madame Pomfrey pulled her wand from the little apron she was wearing and pointed it at James' leg. Without a word, his leg began to rebuild itself, leaving only a deep red scar that still looked very painful.

"No, you wont die. I'm going to put a bandge on it, I don't mind how long you keep it on its just to add a but if support to your leg. It's your choice whenever you take it off." She said, pulling out a bandage and wrapping it tightly around James' leg.

"Thank you." James said with an innocent smile.

"Yes, yes. You're welcome! Now off to bed no one should be outside their dorms right now!" She said, practically pushing the three boys outside of the hospital wing.

James' leg ached as he made his way up the many flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower but he didn't let it bother him- at least now he could walk on it! The only person in the common room when James, Sirius and Peter was the little red head girl who had come to talk to the trio before they went to the hospital wing.

"Hey. Evans, right?" Sirius asked, making the girl jump.

"Yeah, Lily Evans." She confirmed. "I'm sorry but I can't remember your names." She admitted sheepishly.

"James Potter!"

"Sirius Black. The best one!"

"I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew."

"So, Potter, Black and Pettigrew!" Lily double checked, pointing at each boy respectively. "Where's the other boy?" She asked, remembering that there were four new Gryffindor boys- not three.

"He's in the hospital wing. Broke his leg or something like that." James explained. "His name's Remus by the way."

"How has he broken his leg already? It's the first weekend!" She asked, slightly skeptical.

"McGonagall was pretty vauge. That's why we went to see her, to find out if she knew where Remus was." Sirius said.

"Well anyway, what actually happened to your leg?" Lily asked, gesturing to the scar on James' leg that was showing through the rip in his trouser leg. The three of them looked at each other with an expression that asked _do we tell her?_

"When I was ouside I was attacked by a tree." James said, hoping that Evans hadn't seen anything.

"Really? Because I saw you all go outside to Professor McGonagall and when I got downstairs, there was a large gash in your leg." Lily said skeptically.

"Yeah it was a tree." Peter insisted.

"But it was a really cool tree- one that fought back!" Sirius added. "It's branches were swinging everywhere! Even ask McGonagall!"

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Well the tree is currently hidden for safety purposes." James said. "But I found it and it attacked me!"

"Yeah, you told me." Lily said. "If I say I believe you will you stop trying to convince me?"

"Most likely!" Peter said.

"Anyway why are you here on your own?" Sirius asked, taking a seat on one of the many sofas.

"I told you downstairs, Marlene and Mary are already asleep and I have nothing else to do!" She replied, curling her legs up into her chest.

"But why don't you talk to someone else?" James asked.

"Maybe because it's empty apart from me!" Lily replied, starting to become annoyed with the mini interrogation.

"So everyone left you on your own?" Peter asked.

"When I came back after talking to you everyone had gone." She said. "But why does it matter? You're all talking to me now."

"I just wanted to know why you're on your own!" Sirius said defensively.

"Well now you know!" She said simply.

James attempted to cool Sirius and Lily's conversation down since they were both getting at each other's throats a little. They all talked about how they were settling into Hogwarts and being away from home. Both Peter and James missed home a little but loved the freedom that school had to offer. They felt as if they could get away with more, even though it probably wasn't true. However, Lily and Sirius admitted that school was much better than home. James and Peter had some idea of what went on in the Black family but wasn't sure about Lily's home.

"I don't want to pry or anything but is there something going on at home?" James asked anxiously, unsure of how Lily would react to this question.

"Just my sister. You know how siblings can get." Lily replied as vaguely as she possibly could.

"Is your sister going to come to Hogwarts?" Peter asked.

"No she's not magic. There was a word for that..."

"Muggle." Sirius said. "So is she a squib or are you muggle-born?"

"I'm sorry I'm not really sure what that means." Lily admitted as her cheeks flushed a pale pink.

"If your parents aren't magic but you are then that makes you muggle-born." James explained. "Then if your parents are magic and you're not then that makes you a squib."

"In that case I'm muggle-born." Lily replied.

"Not many people use the term squib anymore. Alot of people can find it offensive." Peter added quickly as he didn't want this girl to get into trouble for not understanding something properly.

"Alright. I'll make sure I remember that then!" Lily said, taking a mental note not to bring up the word squib.

Eventually, the conversation steered away from blood status and onto how each of the others were finding lessons. It wasn't long before moring came since everyone had fallen asleep on the sofas and just around the fire.

"Oi! Firsties! You might want to get up soon." Called a fourth year who was passing through to go to breakfast. James checked the time- it was almost 8am so breakfast was just over halfway through and lessons would be starting in about 45 minutes.

"I need to go and get ready." Lily mumbled before getting off the sofa and running up the stairs to the girls' dorms. James, Sirus and Peter headed up to the boys' dorms and got into a new uniform. They rushed down to breakfast and hoped to see Remus waiting there- as good as new- but he wasn't. He must still be in the hospital wing. Seemed a bit silly really, over a broken bone or something of that nature.

When breakfast was over and lesson one had begun, James, Sirius and Peter turned up to the classroom along with everyone else and Remus was still nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" James asked as they were sat in History of Magic. "This is the most boring lesson of all- of course he gets to miss it!"

"How am I meant to know?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Silence whilst doing your work." Called the ghost, Professor Binns, teaching the lesson.

When there was only around fifteen minutes left of the lesson, the doors to the classroom opened and an exhausted looking Remus who wasn't wearing his uniform entered the classroom with large bags under his eyes and a head of messy hair.

"Why have you not been in my lesson? And where is your uniform?" Binns asked in a monotoned voice.

"Did they not tell the whole staff then?" Remus asked but not quite in a genuine tone- more like he was almost mocking the Professor.

"What's your name boy?" The old ghost asked.

"Lupin." He replied simply.

"Doesn't make any explanations come to mind. Tell me why you're late and take your seat." Binns requested.

"I was in the hospital wing." Remus said, nervously shifting his weight between his right and left legs.

"Why were you..."

"Just shut the fuck up!" Remus snapped before taking a seat at the back of the classroom on the same table as James, Sirius and Peter. Everyone stared at him as he did so. They weren't even a week in and this kid was already swearing at Professors- it didn't matger if they were dead or alive!

"Carry on with your work, class. You'll get detention with me if you don't complete the work." Binns ordered in the same tone of voice he usually spoke in.

"Are you alright?" Peter whispered across the table to Remus who looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"I'm fine. Didn't get much sleep that's all." Remus said, dragging his head up off the table to look at him.

"As long as you're alright then." Sirius said awkwardly. He had never really been a people person in his life since, apart from his Uncle, everyone he was around was horrible.

The next lesson they had was Transfiguration and everyone was expecting Remus to get yet another detention from McGonagall for not only turning up without his uniform, but also falling asleep halfway through the lesson. However, McGonagall seemer kinder than ever towards him and only woke him up because people were starting to stare.

"How did you get away with that then?" James asked when they left McGonagall's classroom.

"With what?" Remus asked with, following the reply with a large yawn.

"Fall asleep in McGonagall's lesson. Baring in mind that she gave you detention for not doing quite enough work!" Sirius said.

"When do I need to go to that detention?" Remus asked.

"You went to it last night." Peter replied skeptically.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that's why I tripped down the stairs." Remus replied. "I'm going to go and put my uniform on. You three go ahead."

Remus turned in the opposite direction to the way they had been going and made his way up the many staircases towards Gryffindor Tower.

When he got to the common room, it was empty. He threw his school satchel on the floor by the sofa, not entirely caring if anything in it smashed. He sat down on the sofa and rested his head in his hands and trying not to fall asleep. He chewed the collar of his jumper nervously before standing up and kicking the small table in the middle of the common room.

"Are you alright?" A small girl asked as she emerged from the portrait hole.

"Lily... Yeah I'm fine. Just... Yeah I'm fine." Remus stuttered.

"You don't look it. And also how do you remember my name? I swear we've only talked once or twice." Lily replied sympathetically.

"I try my best to remember everyone's names. Not many people remember mine back home." Remus sighed, picking up his bag and trying to head up to his dorm room.

"Are you not going to tell me what's wrong." Lily asked expectantly.

"It's alot better if you didn't know." Remus said before running up the stairs to get into his school uniform.

He pulled a fresh white shirt out of his trunk and neatly draped his jumper over the end of the bed. He fumbled with the buttons for a while before finally getting them all done up. As he tied his tie around his neck and folded his collar down, he heard a knock on the door.

The small red haired girl was stood in the doorway.

"What are you doing? This is the boys' dorms!" Remus snapped, trying to close the door. "Are you fucking stalking me?"

"When I first met you, you weren't like this. Please tell me what's wrong." Lily begged with a sympathetic look plastered all over her face.

"You already know: I was in the hospital wing and I didn't get much sleep." He replied.

"If you had been let out of the hospital wing then why would Madame Pomfrey let you go to lesson without your uniform?" Lily asked with a proud glint in her eyes.

"Fine I ran away. But it's not like she can force me to go back!" Remus admitted. "I just don't want to fall behind."

"Why would you fall behind? We're only a few days into the year and it's one time."

"But it's not one time! It's every month; since I was four! Shitty life if you ask me!" Remus complained, immediately regretting it. "Can you just go now? You've probably already figured it out, you seem like a smart girl. I knew it wasn't a good idea!" He moaned, faceplanting into his bed.

"Remus, I honestly haven't got a clue what you're on about." Lily replied, feeling guilty that she had pried into his life. "Potter, Black and Pettigrew told me that I was something begining with _m_ or something. But it meant that my parents aren't magic."

"Muggle-born." Remus sighed into his pillow with slight relief.

"Yeah. Muggle-born. So I really don't have a clue what you're on about. But if you ever want to tell anyone then you're more than welcome to talk to me." Lily said before leaving the boys' dorm room and closing the door behind her.

Remus changed into the rest of his uniform and noticed that Lily had gone- she had most likely gone down to see her friends rather than chase Remus for an answer he was determined no one would ever get!

By the time Remus had made it downstairs, it was time for potions. Throughout the whole lesson, people were pointing and whispering at him. He hated the attention and wished that he hadn't acted out in Binns' class. This caused him to get distracted and blow up his potion completely!

"Oi! Sleepyhead! Next time have a nap so you don't blow up your next potion." Called a Slytherin called Evan Rosier.

"Shut the hell up Rosier!" James snapped.

"One of your friends are feisty! I wonder what Black is going to do- since his whole family has been in the best house and now he's a reckless little Gryffindor!" Rosier taunted, gesturing to the jade green on his robes and tie. Sirius reached for his wand in his pocket but before he could throw any spells at him, Rosier was already bolt upright and unable to move. This meant that he couldn't stop himself from toppling over and falling on the floor.

"Wait... What happened? I didn't even do anything!" Sirius exclaimed. "Is he dead?" He added hopefully.

"I petrified him." Remus whispered so only their table could hear. He still didn't want to attract any attention to himself and also, Slughorn was now close by, inspecting what had happened.

"Did you just do wandless, non verbal magic?" James asked.

"Since when was that possible? I we can do that then why do we need to buy wands and learn all this Latin?" Peter asked, stepping back from his cauldron as a large air bubble popped.

"We learn it furthur up in the school. Past OWL level or something." Sirius replied.

"No I just had my wand up my sleeve and whispered it so no one would catch me. Obviously it worked." Remus replied with a slight smirk. He was relatively proud of himself for the first time since he was four years old and it felt nice!

"You know before today I thought you would be that kid who follows all the rules without fail over the seven years we're here, but you've proved me wrong!" James exclaimed. "Well done!"

"Why are you congratulating me? All I did was petrify him." Remus whispered as Slughorn went over to the cupboard to get something to revive Rosier.

"And that's even better- he makes it seem like no big deal!" Sirius added excitedly. "I think we should keep this one- don't you?"

"Definitely!" Peter exclaimed and for one of the very first times in quite a few years, Remus genuinely smiled. He had never really felt welcome because where he grew up, there were alot of very judgemental people, both magic and muggles and he was always told to hide who he was when he wasn't at home but now, he felt like he fit in; even if he didn't really!

Their last lesson that day was flying. James couldn't be more excited, Sirius wasn't quite as excited- but they all doubted that anyone could have been as excited as James but Remus and Peter were dreading it. Peter had always had a fear of heights, he wasn't quite sure how he ended up in Gryffindor since he considered himself to be scared of pretty much everything. But Remus simply just didn't trust that the broom would stay in the air. Gravity was a thing- he had learned that from his mother who had gone to muggle primary school- and gravity should make all the brooms fall to the ground!

"First things first class- choose a broom and stand to it's left." Madame Hooch announced from the middle of two rows of broomsticks. "Now you must summon your broomstick by saying _up_!"

"Up!" The whole class said simultaneously, some people's brooms flying up into their hands. Sirius and Remus managed to get their brooms to fly into their hands and catch them with ease.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked as the two boys stood proudly with their brooms in their hands.

"I just did it." Sirius replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"UP!" James shouted at his broom, determined to get it into his hand. It just lay on the ground, rolling over every so often.

"Still excited?" Remus asked with a smirk creeping across his lips.

"Shut up!"

"Up!" Peter said firmly and his broom flew up into his hand, knocking him backwards slightly.

"That's just not fair!" James moaned now that the other three had got their brooms.

He stood there for around a minute, repeatedly saying up and getting rather bored since all he wanted to do was fly around. When he had played quidditch at home, he had just picked his broom up off the floor since he didn't deem it necessary to use magic to do such a simple task; he also hadn't been amazing at quidditch back home, alot of the time missing the quaffle and often getting hit by a bludger- he didn't even try looking for the snitch because he was never able to catch it no matter how hard he looked.

James had got so distracted by his thoughts that he didn't notice his broom in his hand until it was too late and had fallen to the ground again.

"Oh come on!" James complained. "I'm just going to cheat now." He muttered, waiting for Madame Hooch to look the other way before bening down and scooping the broomstick up.

After another minute, Madame Hooch properly started the lesson.

"Alright- now we all have our brooms, we are going to try mounting them. Everyone swing your right leg over and grip the end of it so you shan't fall off once we begin to fly!" She announced. Everyone did as she asked, some more confident at the mention of flight than others.

"Tighten your grip."

"Yes Madame Hooch."

"Try placing your other hand on top- you might find it more comfortable."

"Yes Madame Hooch."

"Mr Potter is it?" She asked when she reached James, he gulped nervously- how come she knew his name and no one else's?

"Yes Madame Hooch."

"I've heard a good deal about you from Professor McGonagall!" She replied. "Now put your right hand furthur up so you'll be able to steer your broom better." James didn't have incredibly long arms so reaching the end of the broom was a bit challenging but if it meant he could actually maintain control of the broom, he decided it was a good idea to do as she said.

Madame Hooch individually helped everyone kick off from he floor and touch back down so she barely got round the whole class before the lesson was up.

"Well done today class- next lesson we will be kicking off unsupported! If you want to come down and practise then by all means come and get me from my office. That will be all for today!"

"That was so much fun!" James exclaimed. Even though he had flown before, he had always been limited so he wouldn't die or get caught by muggles because he'd flown out too far. Now, he had the whole of the Scotland highlands to fly through!

"You're going to be doing extra practice aren't you?" Peter asked, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah- why wouldn't I? I'm not going to get her help though- I've flown before!" James replied.

"I'll come with you and make sure you don't die. Never ridden a broomstick until today but I doubt that matters!" Sirius offered.

"And that sounds like a plan!" James exclaimed, high fiving Sirius like his dad did to him when they did something fun together.

"Why did you just hit my hand?" Sirius asked.

"It's a thing some people do. Kind of like to say well done." Remus explained. "Mostly a muggle thing."

"And that explains why I don't know it." Sirius grumbled. Around 100% of the time, he hated his blood purity. He didn't care about _family traditions_ or what not- he just saw everyone as people. Maybe that's why the sorting hat sorted him differently. He was different! He didn't fit in there- he fit in with these people: his friends!


End file.
